Chief executive for Europe and Indonesia is to step away from the management board by the end of the year

Ahold Delhaize has announced that Wouter Kolk, CEO Ahold Delhaize Europe and Indonesia, will step down from the management board before the end of the year.

Wouter Kolk Ahold-Delhaize

Wouter Kolk

Kolk joined the company in 1991 as management trainee at Ahold, joining the Ahold Delhaize management board in October 2018 in his current role.

“After careful consideration I have decided to leave Ahold Delhaize,” said Kolk. ”I have always loved this company, its people and the business, and have spent the majority of my career at Ahold Delhaize and its brands, but I am at a point in my career where I feel I can also bring my leadership, passion and experience to life at a different company.

”Having recently been nominated to join the Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel, I am looking forward to further broadening my horizon in the executive and non-executive space.”

Frans Muller, president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said he would miss Kolk as a colleague on the management board.

”His enthusiasm for, and detailed knowledge of the business have been of outstanding value to our company,” Muller noted. “We are glad we have more time together in 2024 to plan for and ensure an effective transition.”

Kolk will stay on as a management board member through 2024, while the retailer said that information about his successor would be shared in due course.